Takeaway: don’t expect the same discounting as last year, at least until they get desperate to clear the lots.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-car-sales-down-in-february-1519915380
As reported in WSJ:
Auto sales fell sharply in February as tightening credit conditions, higher interest rates and stingy discounts drove up monthly payments and slowed the U.S. car business even as the broader economy remains strong.
Detroit auto makers on Thursday reported the second-consecutive collective decline in domestic sales in 2018, with dealers saying that it is getting harder to offer customers an attractive monthly payment.
Even as automobiles get more expensive due to the introduction of new technology and a migration to heftier trucks and SUVs, buyers had been largely able to afford more car due to easy credit terms, low interest rates and a flood of incentives.
“I can’t match previous payments,” Ali Reda, a salesman at Les Stanford Chevrolet in Dearborn, Mich., said. “Buying power is more limited.”
Mr. Reda set the all-time individual sales record for a salesman in 2017, but keeping that pace this year will be tough, he said.
Customers are being more heavily scrutinized, with banks being more cautious about giving loans to buyers with balances on their credit cards, for instance.